1. Field of the lnvention
This invention involves a tracer shotgun shell, and, more particularly, a shotgun shell having a tracer element and a single wad member which centers the tracer element within the pattern of the shot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various means have been developed to allow the shotgun shooter to visually follow the shot as it proceeds towards the target, all with limited success. Certain developments have attempted to tag the individual shot. U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,735, issued to P. F. Schmitt, discloses a shotgun shell wherein the shot is in the form of pellets, preferably of rubber or plastic, to each of which is secured an elongated tail of fluorescent material which is one to three inches long. U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,899, issued to W. L. Luban, discloses shot pellets which are encapsulated with light reflective coatings to permit nighttime tracking. U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,939, issued to H. Ofuji discloses a shotgun cartridge with each shot pellet being coated with an ignitable illuminant or smoking agent, and the cartridge including a solid igniting agent for igniting the illuminant or smoking agent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,481, issued to V. Ricci, on the other hand, discloses a wad for a shotgun shell having an upper cylindrical compartment for holding shot and a lower compartment which includes two chemical compounds in individual frangible containers, so that, when the shell is fired, the chemicals will mix to create a chemiluminescent compound which is ejected from the barrel of the shotgun along with the wad and shot.
Others have designed a single tracer element or projectile mounted within the shotgun shell which is ignited by the propellent powder of the shell and which is propelled from the shotgun along with the shot. Examples of such design are provided by U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,390, issued to R. I. Cowles, et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,405,638 issued to J. A. Stoner, Jr.. Such single tracer elements, however, in practice either do not retain the desired trajectory or do not remain at the center of the shot pattern during flight. It is this type of tracer shotgun shell that offers the most promise, and which is improved significantly and uniquely by the instant invention.
What is needed is a tracer shotgun shell which allows the shooter to visually follow the flight of the shot through the use of a tracer element which, following the same trajectory as the shot, remains centered within the shot pattern, neither leading nor lagging the shot string, so that it arrives at the target at the same time as the shot. The tracer shotgun shell should be simple and economical to manufacture.